India beats France to become world’s sixth largest economy

India has doubled its GDP in just within a decade (Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons)

As per the updated World Bank figures for 2017, India has become the world’s sixth largest economy pushing France to the seventh position.

India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of last year amounted to $2.597 trillion against $2.582 trillion for France. India’s economy rebounded strong from July 2017 after several quarters of poor performance. Manufacturing and consumer spending were the main drivers of the Indian economy last year after a slowdown due to demonetization and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

While India has beaten France, it is to be noted that: While India, with a population of 1.34 billion, is poised to become the world’s most populous nation, France has a population of just 67 million. The comparison means that, as per World Bank figures, India’s per capita GDP is just a fraction of that of France, which has 20 times higher per capita GDP.

India, however, has doubled its GDP in just within a decade and is expected to power ahead as a key economic engine in Asia, even as China slows down. As per IMF (International Monetary Fund), thanks to household spending and a tax reform, India is projected to have a growth of 7.4% this year and 7.8% in 2019. Centre for Economy and Business Research, a London-based consultancy said at the end of last year that India would beat Britain and France this year in terms of GDP, and had a good chance of becoming the world’s third largest economy by 2032.

The United States of America is still the world’s largest economy followed by China, Japan and Germany. At the end of 2017, Britain was the world’s fifth largest economy with a GDP of $2.622 trillion.